1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle positioning device that installs on a rollback wrecker vehicle side frame directly behind the cab. This device is completely independent from the rollback wrecker bed and its functions.
This device is capable of moving a wrecked vehicle sideways from an awkward position on or off the roadway to a parallel position on the roadway shoulder for safe and convenient loading.
This device is provided with retractable stabilizing arms and feet with gripping capability to stabilize the rollback wrecker while winching from the side.
By employing a winch, cable and hook on the device, and chain with special attaching hooks, the device is capable of pulling a wrecked vehicle in a direction approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rollback wrecker vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently when a rollback wrecker is called to the scene of an accident, the vehicle is usually not in a good position for loading. The wrecker operator must first reposition the wrecked vehicle parallel with the roadway.
This repositioning may only require sliding the front or rear of the wrecked vehicle a few feet sideways to align it with the roadway, or at other times the wrecked vehicle may have been knocked 40 feet off the roadway and must be brought back to the roadway and positioned parallel with the roadway before loading.
Unlike conventional wrecker vehicles, rollback wreckers are flatbed car transport vehicles and are designed to load a vehicle onto the bed of the rollback wrecker by first positioning the rollback wrecker in front of the vehicle to be loaded and in parallel alignment therewith, second lowering the rollback wrecker bed to the roadway, third unwinding the cable from the winch mounted in the front of the bed, fourth connecting it to the vehicle, and finally winching the vehicle to the front of the bed. The wrecked vehicle is then secured with chains and the bed rolled forward for transport. Rollback wrecker beds are not designed to pull a vehicle at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the wrecker. Pulling a wrecked vehicle in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rollback wrecker can result in serious damage by warping the rollback bed.
For years operators have chained snatch blocks in the center of the top of the bed and pulled at 90 degrees and warped their rollback beds rather than returning to base for their conventional wrecker.
The current method of addressing this problem is installing a side puller socket and sheave in the center of the bed about three feet from the back. This has disastrous effects also by warping the rollback bed. Since rollback beds slide on rollers or rails, they warp very easily and are expensive to repair, especially if they are made of aluminum.
Side pullers consist of a socket that mounts permanently to the bed of a rollback wrecker vehicle and a sheave that connects and disconnects to the socket as needed. The sheave is connected to the socket when in use and the winch cable provided on the rollback wrecker is then placed around the sheave. By employing the side puller, the hook provided on the end of the cable can be attached to a wrecked vehicle and the rollback wrecker can then execute a side pull. This type of side pull hooked to the front or rear of a wrecked vehicle will generally pull the wrecked vehicle on the roadway at an angle.
Having a wrecked vehicle positioned at an angle to the roadway presents a problem when attempting to load the wrecked vehicle onto the rollback wrecker vehicle because the rollback wrecker vehicle must be aligned parallel and in front of the wrecked vehicle in order to successfully load the vehicle onto the bed of the rollback wrecker vehicle. If the wrecked vehicle is at an angle to the roadway, this requires the rollback wrecker vehicle to also position itself at an angle to the roadway in order to load the vehicle onto the bed of the rollback wrecker. The bed of a rollback wrecker is a minimum of seventeen feet long and usually has a combined truck and bed length of over thirty feet when in the transport position and several feet longer when in a loading position.
Anytime a rollback wrecker has both lanes of the roadway blocked you have a very dangerous situation. This is the reason some State Departments of Public Safety require that wrecker services must have a conventional wrecker also if they are to be on the Department of Public Safety wrecker rotation to work wrecks investigated by the Highway Patrol. Highway Patrol Officers like to keep at least one lane of the highway open to lower the danger risk and also for convenience. If the rollback wrecker vehicle is in the middle of the road with both lanes blocked during the loading process, oncoming traffic may strike the rollback wrecker, its operator, or the officer investigating the accident.
This can be particularly dangerous when the weather is bad, the roadway is slick or icy, the road is curved or hilly, or when visibility is poor, such as early morning, when foggy, or at night.
Because of dangers currently involved in loading a wrecked vehicle in an unfavorable position on a rollback wrecker traffic, authorities at the scene of an accident often insist that a conventional wrecker also respond to the accident to make the recovery and position the wrecked vehicle parallel with the roadway for loading so one lane of the highway can remain open for continuous traffic flow. This results in wasted time for the officer and operator, and higher costs for the customer.
The present invention allows a rollback wrecker vehicle to safely execute a side pull that will position the wrecked vehicle on the shoulder of the roadway and aligned parallel with the road so that it can be safely loaded onto the rollback wrecker vehicle. With the wrecked vehicle in this ideal position, the rollback wrecker can then be moved onto the shoulder of the road in front of the wrecked vehicle and out of the line of traffic. Next, the bed of the rollback wrecker vehicle is lowered to the roadway, and the wrecked vehicle can then be pulled straight ahead onto the bed of the rollback wrecker vehicle. Once the wrecked vehicle is loaded, it is secured with chains, the bed of the rollback wrecker vehicle is moved forward, and the wrecked vehicle is ready for transport.
This invention is designed for safety and convenience. One object of the invention is to slide the front or rear of a wrecked vehicle a few feet for ideal loading. The present invention is able to do the job safely without damage to the rollback wrecker bed at the scene instead of calling for another truck to assist. Another object of the invention is to align the wrecked vehicle with the roadway as it is being pulled sideways toward the side of the rollback wrecker. This invention is, as the name applies, a rollback wrecker vehicle positioning device, and it does cure the one fault of the rollback wrecker: its length.
The present invention is a vehicle positioning device that installs onto the side of the frame of a rollback wrecker just behind the cab of the vehicle.
The device is capable of exerting a side pull to a wrecked vehicle to pull the wrecked vehicle sideways onto the shoulder of the roadway so that the wrecked vehicle is aligned parallel with the roadway. This is the desired position for the wrecked vehicle to allow it to be safely loaded onto the rollback wrecker vehicle with the wrecker vehicle positioned on the shoulder in front of the wrecked vehicle.
The device is provided with a pair of retractable stabilizing arms with attached feet with gripping ability to apply pressure down on the feet and up on the wrecker vehicle, thereby making the rollback wrecker vehicle stable enough to withstand a side pull.
By employing a winch, attached cable with hook on the device and a chain with special attaching hooks, the device is capable of pulling a wrecked vehicle in a direction approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rollback wrecker vehicle. When the wrecker vehicle needs to be moved, the stabilizing arms can be disengaged from the roadway by retracting them upward. The wrecker vehicle can be driven when the arms are in a retracted position.